


Overcoming the Odds

by RebekahandPhillip



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 15:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4064305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebekahandPhillip/pseuds/RebekahandPhillip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Baron kidnapped orphaned children under the guise of rescuing them from greater danger. As they grew, his mask started slipping and they understood he had little love for them and dangerous goals. They hide their knowledge and plan to escape his castle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overcoming the Odds

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prologue to the unfinished, unedited, rather long story of Rebekah and Phillip. Please let me know what you think! The whole of the story has plot holes that I'm trying to work out and setting/technology issues, but if people end up reading and (hopefully!) liking this, then maybe I'll find some inspiration! Also I'm very new to Archive so any suggestions or corrections in how to use this site would be appreciated, thanks!

The day started out normal. The 23 year old Baron of Ironhedge came downstairs after breakfast to give the special orders for the day. Phillip was the 16 year old head and acting father of the small family of orphans who served the Baron. His orders were to make sure he and the boys cleaned well outside on the castle grounds. The merchant caravan was due around lunchtime. Rebekah was the same age as Phillip and had been the mother for their small family with him for the last five years.  She was to make sure that the girls cleaned the inside of the castle well and had lunch and dinner ready early. She and Phillip were to be sure that all the children were safely inside the castle as soon as lunch was over. All of the children were to stay inside their hallway until the packages were unloaded and the merchants were safely out of the castle proper and only on the castle grounds. The merchants camped on the castle grounds and the soldiers brought the premade evening meal out to them. The merchants handled their own breakfast over small fires the morning of their departure.  Rebekah and Phillip were to stand guard at the door to their hallway and if any merchant came toward them, they were to pretend to be the Baron’s children. All of this was normal. Phillip and Rebekah did exactly as they were told and everyone was in place as the watch caught sight of the merchant caravan coming out of the forest trail.

The Baron strode out to deal with the merchants and ordered his right hand man, the 30 year old Stryker to call for the soldiers to help the merchants unload the packages. In the confusion, unknown to anyone, Fredrick, the 30 year old Captain of the Baron’s soldiers, slipped away. He came down to the children’s hallway.

“Phillip, Rebekah.” He started. “The Baron sent me to get Lily.”

“What for?” Phillip challenged.

“Why Lily?” Rebekah asked.

“I don’t know.” Fredrick said with exasperation. “He says go get Lily, so here I am.”

Rebekah and Phillip exchanged glances. “I’ll go get her.” Rebekah said and she headed down the corridor.

They had good reason to be cautious. One, all of the children were currently working on the escape in the boys’ room and angering Fredrick so that he stormed in and grabbed Lily would be disastrous. Two, if the order came from the Baron, they dare not disobey. Three, if the order didn’t come from the Baron, Fredrick would possibly be with Lily alone and then might discover their secret. So it is best to fetch Lily first and then plan against Fredrick acting on his own.

“Tomas, Lily.” Rebekah called softly through the door before she opened it. They all paused in their work. Lily and Tomas, both 15 years old, were invaluable to both Rebekah and Phillip and in charge of the work on the escape most often. Rebekah caught them up on the situation. “So Tomas, Lily will have to go with Fredrick, but we will cautiously follow. None of the merchants or their packages are yet in the process of coming inside so hopefully we won’t get caught. Scott, I want you to stop and hide the project and then go stand guard. Margaret, you’re in charge of the rest until we get back.” Scott and Margaret, 14 years old, hastened to help and direct the other children as the other three left the room.

They came back toward Phillip and Fredrick at the entrance of their hallway. “Come with me Lily.’ Fredrick said and turned and walked to the curve in the hallway. He turned and waited for Lily to join him. Tomas squeezed her hand, kissed her cheek and she left to follow Fredrick. When she reached him, they went around the curve and slowly Tomas followed with Phillip behind him and then Rebekah.

They hoped that Frederick would go to the kitchen or even the front door as they knew the Baron was outside and Phillip and Rebekah exchanged worried glances when he did not. Tomas simply sped up and crept around the curves in the stairs as quickly as he could without being noticed. They followed Tomas and all three watched as Fredrick and Lily passed the stair guards without a word. This was not normal, but they still didn’t know for sure if it was wrong. But then, the two guards exchanged awful, knowing glances. That was enough for Tomas, quickly he dashed up the remaining stairs, keeping low and rushed between the two guards. They barely knew what had happened and didn’t follow him as they now had to deal with keeping Rebekah and Phillip off the second floor.

“Tomas!” Rebekah called as she heard a squeal from Lily, some harsh thudding and Tomas calling, “LILY!”

“He’s doing something to her!” Tomas called anguished. “The door is locked. I can’t get through.”

“Keep trying!” She called. She looked at the two guards who were trying to decide if they should start grappling with Phillip who looked very angry and ready to rush them or to go stop Tomas. “Phillip…” She said just low enough for him to hear. “Help me get to the Baron.” He nodded once. She turned to the guards, flipped her hair and taunted “Catch us if you can!” As one they turned and ran down the stairs and were rewarded with hearing the guards’ weapons clatter as they tried to follow.

They flew down the corridor into the kitchen which was full of soldiers with boxes. There was no clear path to the outside door. “The table!” Rebekah cried. The great kitchen table was empty and immobile in the center of the room. They ran at it and Phillip, getting there first, knelt down quick allowing Rebekah to stand on his leg and then run across the length of the table. Phillip climbed up more conventionally and was relieved to note that the soldiers with boxes were so stunned that they hadn’t reacted yet.

They jumped off the table and made for the great doors which two soldiers were holding open. Those two had their wits and grabbed at Rebekah as she tried to go by. She swerved and the right hand one missed, but the left hand one caught her hair. She squealed with pain and spun around. “Phillip!”

He body slammed the guard who let go of her hair and the two of them fell clear of the door and into the courtyard. Rebekah ran toward the Baron who had turned toward the door like everybody else when she had squealed and the door clanged shut. The Baron’s face was a sight. Shock at the events. Anger that she was outside. Confusion that she ran straight toward him. Anger again as the stair guards came bursting out the doors to see the two soldiers pinning down a struggling Phillip. Rebekah knew she should try to keep up the charade the Baron wanted for the merchants, but she could not bring herself to yell out to him as ‘Papa’. She could still act like it though. She let tears stream down and she hurdled into the Baron’s arms as if she was a small child.

“Rebekah!” the Baron said astonished. “I know I told the men that I wanted you and your brother to stay inside, but I didn’t mean with such force!” He gave an angry glare to the guards. “Let my son up! What is the meaning of all this!”

She sobbed and looked up. “Fredrick.” She gulped air. “Lily.” A sob. “Upstairs!”

The Baron gasped, “What!”  In shock and then he swooped her up in his arms. “Stryker. Everyone is to stay right where they are until I come back down. I’m guessing Fredrick has my elder daughter alone in what I’m assuming to be a compromising position.” He said as he strode to the door. “You two!” He pointed to the stair guards. “Open the door and come with me! Phillip…son, take your sister’s hand. She is overwrought.”

This time everyone quickly moved out of their way as they strode through the kitchen. The Baron thankfully put Rebekah down in the hallway and then all three of them broke into a run and once again left the guards chasing after.

As they reached the top of the stairs, they could hear harsh thudding. They rounded the last corner and saw a very distraught Tomas shouldering the door in rhythm. “Tomas. Stop.” The Baron ordered. Tomas stopped in relief and the Baron strode forward and pounded on the door. “Fredrick. Open. This. Door.”

The sound of scuffling which had been heard as Tomas stopped pounding against the door was heard to stop. But no movement toward the door was heard. The Baron’s face and voice was extremely angry as he added dangerously, “Now.”

Now there was slow movement toward the door. And the locked turned. The Baron motioned for Tomas to proceed and he burst through the door. A very guilty, panicked, scared Fredrick stood there, but no Lily. Tomas scanned the room quickly and then saw she was hiding under the desk. It was thankfully a desk with very small square leg room. He rushed around the desk and drew her out into his arms. The Baron strode through the door and punched Fredrick hard in the face. He fell to the floor. “Don’t move.” He turned back toward the door and gestured for Rebekah and Phillip. They rushed in and Phillip knelt by Tomas’ side and Rebekah by Lily’s.

“You two. Get in here.” The Baron ordered the stair guards. “Take him down and lock him in the dungeon. Now. Then report to my office.”

The stair guards hastened to obey and then the four children were left with the Baron. “Now, Lily.” The Baron said gently. “Tell me what happened.” He came around the desk and sat down in Fredrick’s chair across from the four huddled together on the floor.

Lily took a breath and explained how it had happened. Then Rebekah took over. “We’re so sorry to go outside, but we didn’t know what else to do! Phillip and I couldn’t get up past the two guards and Tomas couldn’t get through the door and Charlotte had always taught me that touching and kissing is for married people, but Fredrick and the men keep talking at dinner about how they wish they could do it to us and then when he took her up and we realized what was going on….” Rebekah finally trailed off as the Baron touched her arm gently.

“Rebekah. Please do not be alarmed. You are right. Touching and kissing is for married people and I certainly don’t want the men doing it to you. I am not angry that you came outside. You handled it well. I think they see you as my children, which is what I wanted. We can’t have those bad men coming back to claim the others can we? No, you four acted appropriately. Thank you. Now, dinner is all but ready correct? Good. So I want you all to go back to your rooms and you will have the night off. Take some time and recover and after the men have eaten, get dinner for yourselves. Then we will start fresh tomorrow. I will punish Fredrick and speak harshly with the men about this and it will not happen again.”

They listened and acted scared and reassured. Which they partly were. They were grateful that their secrets were safe. They were glad the Baron still seemed to think of them as very young. They were glad that they had time off tonight and wouldn't have to serve the soldiers dinner. It would be put to good use. The four children went back to their room and everyone but Lily and Tomas worked on the escape. They were so close to completing the tunnel. It was just wide enough for tall Phillip to crawl through. They were sure that they had dug just outside the castle wall and now they were digging up. The dirt was disappearing into the garden and the lavatory. Tonight they were expecting to break through the top soil. Hopefully, right next to the castle wall on the outside. That way they would hopefully be in the shadows of the castle wall and the soldiers would be less likely to step on the hole.

“Papa.” Scott said quietly. “I think I’ve reached some roots. Everyone in the passageway paused. The others who had been carting out the dirt turned toward Scott and Phillip who was holding him up on his shoulders. Phillip set him down and reached up. He felt roots. “Ok, everyone. Scott. Go to Tomas and ask him to come down here with his knife and tell Mama about this. Then ask her to help you bring the board down here. Everyone else, cart out the rest of this dirt and then stay inside the room. Put your packs on and guard the door. If this hole is discovered, then we will have to try to escape tonight.”

Everyone bustled to do as he asked and soon the tunnel emptied and Rebekah, Tomas and Scott came back with the board. “Scott please go back now.” Rebekah requested. “Lily is in charge and everyone is getting ready. The shaft is ready also by the tunnel entrance.”

“Perfect. Then when we get the top soil ready we’ll be able to cut it down to the right size. Now, Tomas, as we discussed.” Phillip stated.

Philip and Tomas squeezed together in the hole and reached up with their knives. They carefully cut out a square above them. “The knife feels like it is poking through!” Phillip whispered. “We have reached the open air. The only question is where!”

Slowly and carefully with the top soil intact they pulled the square down above their heads and into the tunnel. Rebekah pulled it toward her and Tomas followed giving Phillip access to the top. He reached up and put his hands carefully on the surface and pulled up. He looked around carefully. It was prefect. He smiled and hopped back down. “It worked! I can see the forest! We are outside the castle grounds and right next to the wall.”

They all breathed a sigh of relief. “Great, now measure it so we can put the top soil back.” Rebekah requested. The boys stood together again with the top soil carefully above their heads. Phillip measured where the roof of their tunnel should stand against his body and then they gently lowered it back down onto the board. The board was the bottom of one of the crates from the merchants. Then everyone came out of the tunnel. They shared the good news with their children and Tomas and Phillip cut off the extra from the shaft. Then climbing back through the tunnel, they raised the top soil with the hard board underneath and held it up with the shaft.

The whole tunnel and escape plan was finally finished. Now they just needed to plan when.


End file.
